Physics practical course
Who can take part?
Our physics practical course is suitable for students with a physics course in year 12 or 13 who have basic knowledge in the following areas:
Maths:
- Functions and graphs
- Differential and integral calculus
- Trigonometry, logarithm
Physics:
- Classical mechanics (forces, torque, kinematics)
- Fundamentals of electrical engineering (current, voltage, resistance, Kirchhoff's rules, simple electrical circuits)
Also important:
In order to participate in the practical course, students must attend a digital safety briefing and pass a final test.
What do I need this for?
An understanding of physics is important for many technical professions. A solid basic knowledge of physics is a prerequisite for studying engineering.
After successful participation, the physics practical course can be recognised for a Bachelor's degree course in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics, i.e. if you later study with us, you no longer need to do a physics practical training.
What is practical training in physics about?
All Bachelor's students in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics at FH Aachen must complete practical training in physics in the first semester at the beginning of their degree programme. Together with our freshers, you will learn how to independently plan, set up, carry out and quantitatively analyse physical-technical experiments in various areas of classical physics.
In small teams, students carry out experiments on the topics of classical mechanics, the rotation of rigid bodies and the fundamentals of electrical engineering and learn various methods of analogue and digital data acquisition and evaluation. To make it easier for students to get started, they are introduced to the experiments with the help of step-by-step instructions that are initially detailed and later more freely organised.
What experiments are there?
- “Spring constant” experiment:
In the "Spring constant" experiment, students investigate the dependence of the spring constant on various geometric and material parameters. - “Bicycle rim” experiment:
In the "Bicycle rim" experiment, students deal with rotating mechanical components and investigate the relationship between component properties such as material, mass and geometry, torque, friction and the rotation of the rim. - “Multimeter” experiment:
In the "Multimeter" experiment, students learn how to work with electrical circuits and the multimeter. The students record the characteristic curves of various components, e.g. a CPU fan, and determine the specific resistance of copper. - Lecture hall experiment ‘Determination of g’:
This experiment is carried out together with all students of a Bachelor's degree programme in the lecture hall. Students learn the basics of measuring and evaluating data.
Time required? 4 dates (in the afternoon) in the winter semester
The practical training is offered in fixed groups on four dates in the winter semester,
- either on Tuesdays from 3:35 p.m. to 6:40 p.m. or
- on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 2:00 p.m. to 5:05 p.m. at the Aachen University of Applied Sciences.
The dates are between the beginning of October and the beginning of February.
- Total attendance hours in the internship: 12 hours, preparation and follow-up: approx. 18 hours.
- Total workload: 30 hours.
Dates that fall during school holidays will be rescheduled.
